Let’s Go Morocco!

How do you start a blog? This is the question I asked myself as I sat down to write this maiden post. Unfortunately, the eSIM I purchased for my phone has decided to give out two days before its weeklong trial period is up, and the internet in my homestay is only consistently effective as long as you’re within spitting distance of the router, which is found in a room of the house that is currently playing a badly dubbed version of a Turkish soap opera on what can’t be anything less than max volume. Therefore, I’ve retreated to the roof, which is both quiet and internet-free, meaning I’m free to write in peace but also unable to research how you actually compose a blog, since I really have no idea what I’m doing, as evidenced by the formatting of this page. So, I’m just going to write and hope that these posts give anyone who wants to follow my adventure a way to enjoy this journey to Morocco with me. Let’s go! 

The journey begins with a 10-hour flight from Salt Lake to Paris. I was happy to be with a group of seven other members of my cohort for this leg of the trip and was even happier to enjoy an exit-row aisle seat for the entire flight. Sometimes I wish my luck with airplanes would bleed over into other, more frequent aspects of my life (like fly fishing), but I guess I can’t have everything I want. Anyway, that stretch of travel was followed by a layover in the CDG airport, in which I got lost (not my fault) and enjoyed(?) an overpriced Pret-a-Manger breakfast before boarding an Air France flight for Rabat. I came away from my stint in Paris with a renewed dislike of the French (kidding, Mom), and the realization that I never again wish to fly an airline that doesn’t have a multimedia entertainment system for my smartphone, YouTube, and video game-addicted brain. I was briefly worried that I might actually have to talk to the guy sitting next to me, but, fortunately, he was German. At last, after around fifteen hours of travel, roughly a dozen of my ill-prepared Arabist classmates and I landed in Rabat. Upon arrival, we were naturally required to clear customs before picking up our luggage. My customs official was not impressed that I didn’t know the address of where I was staying, nor that I was a student studying Arabic who didn’t understand any of the questions he was asking me, but decided to let me in anyway. I think this says a lot of things about Morocco, but none that I’m going to write here because I really doubt that the only people reading this will be the ones I’ve sent the link to, if you get my meaning. Regardless, we collected our bags and met up with our driver—loading into a couple of vans that would have looked right at home in a Cheech and Chong movie, and were taken into the city.

 

After being shuttled from the airport and checking in to a hotel, we dropped our bags and split up to roam about Rabat. That first afternoon consisted of exploring the Agdal neighborhood, eating bad shawarma, taking a walking tour of the streets immediately surrounding the institute (Amideast) where I’ll be taking classes, walking to the beach, throwing rocks into the ocean, playing soccer with local kids, and watching a professional soccer match between Morocco and Senegal at a coffee bar with a bunch of passionate Moroccans, before heading back to the hotel and going to sleep. The following morning, we headed downstairs to check out and eat breakfast before heading over to Amideast to begin our few days of orientation. I certainly won’t bore you with that here, but there have been a surprising amount of presentations and crash courses on how to both survive and thrive here in Rabat, such as explanations on how to use our emergency brick phones, safely navigate the city both on foot and using public transportation, and avoid certain sensitive topics in our discussions. The very best part of that first orientation day was meeting my host family. I am living, along with two of my classmates, with an empty nester couple in a charming house near the Moulay Youssef public hospital. My host mother’s name is Malika, and she is wonderful. She is very sweet and is committed to speaking with us in Arabic almost exclusively, though she does know enough English that she can clarify if we really aren’t getting it (that happens a lot). She’s also a fabulous cook, which is great because the restaurants that I’ve found so far have really left a lot to be desired. I haven’t met her husband, Hassan, yet because he is out of town visiting family, but if he’s anything like his wife, it’s going to be a lovely homestay experience. Just moments ago, she recruited me to water her rooftop plants. I don’t know how she knows about my extensive botanical knowledge, but I’m honored to be chosen for this assignment. I’m glad I have so many years of experience at Red Butte Garden to help me get it right (thanks, Chris)! The remainder of this first week has been spent doing a variety of orientation classes, meeting some of our tutors and teachers, taking a couple of short refresher courses in the local Darija Arabic dialect, and meeting with the local staff at the institute. However, most of our afternoons have been largely free, which has allowed me to visit the old city, sightsee, take a short boat ride around Rabat’s harbor, try restaurants, watch more soccer at bars, secondhand smoke, haggle over knock-off Nike sandals, and run errands. It’s been a packed week, and it’s finally sunk in that I’m going to be spending almost the entire rest of this year here in Morocco.

 

Unfortunately, the vacation part of my trip is pretty much over. In fact, as I’m writing this, I’ve realized that it’s 9:30 and I haven’t started the homework that’s due tomorrow, so it looks like it’s all systems normal for me here in Rabat. Some things never change. The subsequent months are going to be loaded with intensive Arabic schooling, but hopefully I’ll have enough time to explore and take in the sights so that these blog posts aren’t just me complaining about school. Also, I’m sure I’ll meet some interesting characters that will be fun to both write and read about, and I can’t wait to share those stories on here. In next week’s blog, I plan to go a little more into what exactly learning Arabic is like in Morocco and give my impressions of the city and the type of place it is. Please, feel free to comment on these posts, or send me an email if you prefer. Also, my roommate Wyatt suggested that I make a shared Google Photos album to more easily give visual glimpses into my trip. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post and maybe somewhere else more accessible. Until next week! مع السلامة 

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Nn8RnGb5RkZJcXjy8